What Didn’t Work: Tongue-Tied at the Top

Meanwhile, trouble was brewing at the Smithsonian Institution. In 2006, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa asked the Smithsonian to justify the compensation and spending of its secretary (that is, its chief executive), Lawrence “Larry” M. Small. In response, the busy Smithsonian regents trusted Small to oversee his own audit, and then passed resolutions that retroactively approved his spending. Displeased, Grassley issued another missive demanding change at the organization. The press soon buzzed with rumors of excess and impropriety at the nation’s premier museum system. The board eventually dismissed Small, but not before the mudslinging damaged the reputations of both the institution and the regents overseeing it.